COLORADO SPRINGS – It was the big break prosecutors were looking for.
On Friday, Krystal Kenney pleaded guilty to one count of tampering with physical evidence, in exchange for her future testimony against Patrick Frazee. Frazee is charged in the murder of his fiancé, Kelsey Berreth, last year.
Kenney admitted to moving Berreth’s cell phone, saying she knew Frazee committed murder around Nov. 22, 2018, in Teller County. She will be sentenced after Frazee’s case.
<figcaption class="wp-caption-text" id="caption-attachment-173018">Krystal Kenney in court on Friday, February 8.That deal has brought mixed reactions from people that knew Berreth best.
Nicole Haywood was one of Berreth’s closest friends growing up. She said she’s happy investigators should get more information about what may have happened, but thinks they’re giving Kenney too good of a deal.
“I’m hopeful that we’ll get more information about exactly what happened and hopefully be able to find Kelsey’s body,” Haywood said. “It’s incredibly disturbing that another mother could either help commit a murder or at least cover it up. We don’t know how involved she was at this point.”
Kenney could face up to 18 months in prison if the crime is found to be presumptive range. If it’s found to be aggravated, she could see up to three years in prison. By state law, the sentence is not mandatory.
“A maximum of three years seems extremely light,” Haywood said.
Haywood told News 5’s Sam Kraemer she’s thankful that Kenney’s testimony could help convict Frazee. She just hopes they don’t forget her role in the alleged crime.
“[Kenney’s] gonna have to be away from her kids for three years, if she does get that, which is gonna be hard for her,” Haywood said. “But Kelsey’s not gonna be able to see her baby grow up.”
The evidence of Kenney’s actual tampering with Berreth’s cell phone is under seal, as is the evidence against Frazee.
That information in Frazee’s case should be released at his next court date, a preliminary hearing set for Feb. 19.
